Kids Crafts Inspired by Kindermusik@Home

Posted on June 27, 2013 by Kindermusik International

What do a cardboard castle and a paper plate sun have in common?  They’re both two of the many kids craft ideas conveniently found in Kindermusik@Home.

Crafts for Preschoolers

What’s great about the cardboard castle featured in Make Believe are the kid-friendly instructions. With just a little help from an adult, they are just perfect for preschoolers who thrive on a little independence and the joy of creative self-expression. The best parts are all the imaginative pretend play once the castle is complete, and the learning that happens best through active play and hands-on interaction.

Crafts for Toddlers

A simple but fun craft idea for toddlers is found in Kindermusik@Home, Up in the Sky.  Hint:  You might want to make two so that you can both sing and dance with your Paper Plate Sun.  (Or turn on the recording of “Mr. Sun.”)  The paper plate sun is one of several “sky crafts” that promote interactive learning while also inspiring together-time ideas.
As a unique benefit of your Kindermusik enrollment, your Home Materials, conveniently available when you log in to Kindermusik@Home, offer you and your child music and then some – engaging, delightful craft ideas being among the highlights.

Together time fueled by creativity and imagination…

…all inspired by the power of Kindermusik – in class and at home all week long.
Shared by Theresa Case, whose Kindermusik program at Piano Central Studios is among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.

Music, creativity, and English Language Learners

Posted on June 24, 2013 by Kindermusik International

Children naturally engage in creative activities: from storytelling to singing to dancing to turning a shoebox into a submarine, doll bed, or even another planet. An often-quoted IBM poll of 1,500 CEOs identified creativity as the number one “leadership competency” of the future. Albert Einstein also understood the importance of creativity when he said, “Creativity is intelligence having fun.” So, how do we foster creativity in young children that sustains through adulthood?

Music and teaching English to children supports creativity

Source: Flickr.com

Einstein often used music as a creative way to solve complex problems. He believed, “The greatest scientists are artists as well.” Playing an instrument, singing with others, and dancing to music all support a child’s creative process and encourages individual expression and exploratory behavior. Learning a second (or third!) language can also foster creativity. In fact, research indicates that bilinguals tend to be more creative thinkers and perform better in problem-solving skills than those who speak only one language.
An article published in the Early Childhood Education Journal, “Using Music to Support the Literacy Development of Young English Language Learners,” reviews current research to highlight some of the reasons why music can effectively be used when teaching English to children.

8 reasons to use music with ELL students

1. A child’s initial introduction to patterned text often occurs first in songs, chants, and rhymes, which can lead to greater understanding of print concepts.
2. Songs present opportunities for developing automaticity in the language process. The repetitive nature of many children’s songs helps ELL students learn the language as they hear words and phrases repeated.
3. Music can be integrated throughout the day in the classroom and at home to develop and to extend vocabulary and comprehension skills.
4. Music can improve listening and oral language skill development, improve attention and memory, and enhance abstract thinking.
5. Music enriches ELL students’ creativity and cultural awareness.
6. Songs can be used to practice and reinforce consonant sounds.
7. Songs can teach a variety of language skills, such as sentence patterns, vocabulary, pronunciation, rhythm, and parts of speech.
8. Music is a way for children to experience rich language in a fun way.

English Language Learners curriculum uses music

Created by Kindermusik International, ABC English & Me uses music and movement to teach English to speakers of other languages that meets the TESOL curriculum standards for Pre-K. This beginners program for English Language Learners combines our extensive experience in early childhood education with the latest research on learning a foreign language.

Get more info on teaching English to children around the world with Kindermusik and ABC English & Me.

In one bilingual school, music supports the unique needs of dual language learners

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Kindermusik International

The British American Preschool in Milan, Italy is devoted to the unique learning needs of young bilingual children. In addition to meeting the child’s changing language needs, the school is focused on helping children develop a balance of interests and skills — from studies in science to the arts.

  “Early childhood is a period of rapid mental growth and development,” according to the school’s Web site. “Young children need a rich foundation of stimulating experiences that will be essential for later learning, a strong sense of self-esteem, and excitement and curiosity for learning.”


Parents and children participate in ABC English & Me at the bilingual school in Milan, Italy
 
The school incorporates the Jean Piaget theory that “play is a child’s work.” Based on the school’s mission to learn through play and to develop a variety of skills, ABC English & Me is one of the programs that the school offers its students.

Here, the school’s director, Debbie Chilver, talks about how the music based activities in ABC English & Me help to develop English language skills, as well as the child’s attention span (in Italian of course! Scroll down for the English translation).

Debbie Chilver, Director at the British American Preschool of Milan – Italy

English and Me è un programma che coinvolge molto i bambini. E’ sorprendente vedere come bambini così piccoli partecipano alle attività. Si può notare facilmente che la loro capacità di attenzione viene sviluppata durante le lezioni e che esse sono finalizzate al raggiungimento di obbiettivi tipici degli “early years”.
Possiamo prendere un semplice gesto come su e giù, per esempio. Lo si fa nel rituale dei saluti e poi si ripete in altre attività, come in una delle storie o con gli strumenti. La lezione è strutturata in maniera tale da promuorere la consapevolezza di tutto il corpo.
Si può anche vedere che le lezioni sono ben pensate. Non appena i bambini sono in procinto di distrarsi l’attività cambia e ci si muove. Si può notare che gli obbiettivi e la sequenzialità delle attività volte al loro raggiungimento sono state testate.
Sento che la musica è uno dei più grandi veicoli per l’insegnamento. La musica è un eccellente forma di comunicazione per l’insegnamento di una seconda lingua. Cominciare presto, sviluppa nei bambini un apprezzamento per la musica che li accompagnerà per il resto della loro vita. E’ come piantare questo seme in tenera età e poi vederlo crescere.

 The British American Preschool focuses on the unique learning needs of bilingual children.

In English

ABC English and Me is a program that gets the children extremely involved.  It’s amazing how such small children participate in the activities.  You can see that their attention span is really being developed by this class.
After having looked at the scope you can see that it is very structured towards early years objectives.  We can take a simple movement like up and down for example. You do it in the ritual greating and then it is repeated in other activities like in one of the stories or with the instruments. The lesson is structured with full body awareness in mind.  You can also tell that the lessons are well thought out.
As soon as the children are about to get distracted the activity changes and they do a movement.  You can see that the scope and sequence of the lessons have been tested out also.
I feel that music is one the greatest vehicles for teaching. Music is a form of communication that is great for teaching language as a second language.  Starting children young will develop music appreciation for the rest of their lives.  You can lay this seed at an early age and then watch it grow. 

Your Child Rocks!

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Theresa Case

When your baby cries, you instinctively scoop him up and rock him.  His need to move and his ability to be soothed by movement are vital in the first 15 months of life when the vestibular system – the area that gives him a sense of balance and distance – is developing.
Aside from the physical benefits of movement, your child also recieves an emotional benefit from rocking and bonding with you.  This quiet, rocking ritual can provide him with a sense of security, allowing him to grow into an assured, confident learner with a healthy self-esteem.
Rocking is still important as your young child grows and will often become a favorite – and memorable – activity for both child and parent.  Even older children benefit from the stimulation of the vestibular system.  Urges to run and tear around the house can be mellowed by taking a few minutes for quiet or even more active rocking.
Kindermusik Tips for your Baby, Toddler, and Preschooler

• > Rocking your baby: Place a blanket on the floor and lay your baby in the middle.  With an adult caregiver on either side, pick up a corner of the blanket and gently “hammock” your child.  If your baby doesn’t like rocking this way, simple lay him on his back and gently rock him side-to-side to the rhythm of the music.
• > Rocking with your toddler:  Toddlers can rock a favorite stuffed animal, or while you sit on the floor, your toddler can hug you from behind as you rock back and forth to the music.
• > Rocking with your preschooler: Preschoolers will love to curl their bodies into little balls, and rock and roll around the room. Want to let your inhibitions go? Do this with them! Fits of giggles are sure to follow.

What are Kindermusik's "Foundations of Learning"?

Research PROVES time and time again how much music stimulates the development of the brain. 

Throughout history, many educational theories have included music in their academic curriculum.  The following quote by Plato is such an eloquent way to illustrate the importance of music training. 

“Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other (for education) because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul, on which they mightily fasten, imparting grace.” 

Maria Montessori believed that children up to 6 years old were going through a ”sensitive period for music”, and promoted methods for children to experience and explore music during these years.

Kindermusik draws from the teachings of Montessori, as well as leading music education theories, such as Suzuki, Orff, and many others, to develop a comprehensive method for introducing music and music concepts to the youngest of children. 

Kindermusik goes a step further and continues their studies of the the best of current research in music education and in child development,  developing curriculum, AND home materials, that focuses the power of music to help children in all areas of life:

PHYSICAL development – locomotor movements as well as fine motor movements with hands and fingers


EMOTIONAL development – awareness of self, the body, the emotions, and the psyche


SOCIAL development – interaction with family as well as peers and new adults

LANGUAGE development – the ability to communicate with each other through body movements, facial expression and words, as well as through written words


COGNITIVE development – the recognition of patterns, which is how the brain lays the foundation for understanding the world around them, and the ability to solve problems effectively.

MUSIC development – experiencing and developing skills in all areas of music, including music concepts and music theory, but also expanding to include the wide variety of music in cultures around the world, and throughout history.

The introduction of music in a child’s early life, even at infancy, helps build initial neural pathways that help them make sense of the world.  They establish a foundation of knowledge that makes it easier to connect new knowledge, which makes it easier for them to learn more.   This can be all done without Kindermusik.  Any musical pursuits you establish with your children start this process.   

But, Kindermusik offers what parents need most to really bring the power of music to life, at each age of their child’s development.  That’s why the programs are separated according to age groups, and include both weekly classes, as well as materials to bring the learning home.

Kindermusik: Learning through music

Active Listening

We live in a noisy world. Buzzing lawn mowers, phones ringing, cars honking, dogs barking and cats meowing, planes zooming—and those are just the sounds your child makes during play!  As adults, most of us know how to tune into important sounds and tune out the rest (well, usually!).  Children, however, need to learn how to identify and discriminate between sounds and tune into those sounds that matter most—like the sound of your voice instead of the sound of a toy.

During the school years, children will spend an estimated 50 to 75 percent of classroom time listening to the teacher, to other students, or to media. Developing strong active listening skills will prepare your child for classroom learning, including language and literacy development. Each week in Kindermusik we provide many opportunities for your child to practice active listening skills. So, when we intently listen for the sounds of the pipe organ in a Bach piece, use the wood blocks to produce a Staccato sound, or move smoothly with streamers when we hear the the music change from Staccato to Legato, your child is practicing active listening.

Everyday connection:

M is for? Make a letter sound and ask your child to identify the letter and to name an animal that starts with that sound. How would that animal move? What would it sound like? Pick another letter. Try whispering so your child can practice listening even more intently to the sound of your voice.

5 Ways Music Prepares Children for School

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Kindermusik International

It’s no secret. We love music. Music can move us in profound ways. No question about it. With more than 35 years of experience creating music classes for toddlers, babies, big kids, and families as well as standards-aligned daycare and preschool curriculum, we know the lasting impact music education can have on a child. We also know, as music educator Cheryl Lavender puts it, “The fact that children can make beautiful music is less significant than the fact that music can make beautiful children.”
As if creating beautiful children wasn’t enough, research shows that music can even help prepare children for school. All of that makes us fall in love with music all over again! Here are just five ways music can help prepare children for school. (By the way, we use all of these ways…and more…in our developmentally appropriate and research-based music education programs in private studios, public schools, and childcare centers!)

5 Ways Music Prepares Children for School

1. Learning to read musical notation uses a similar set of cognitive skills and pattern recognition also found in reading. In our preschool curriculum, ABC Music & Me, and in our Kindermusik classes, when children sing high or low based on whether an image is above or below a line or when children imitate a recorded sound by playing a C-A pattern on an instrument, children are learning the symbolic representation for sounds. Learning musical notation in this way mirrors how listening to and imitating spoken language evolves into reading.
2. Music gives children many opportunities to practice active listening skills. Developing strong active listening skills prepares children for classroom learning, including language and literacy development. During the school years, children will spend an estimated 50 to 75 percent of classroom time listening to the teacher, to other students, or to media. When children intently listen for the sounds of a specific instrument in a song, use wood blocks to produce a Staccato sound, or move smoothly with scarves when they hear the music change from Staccato to Legato, children are practicing active listening.
3. Music and movement helps children learn to tell their bodies what to do, when to stop, when to go, and when to move to another activity. Self-regulation is the ability to control one’s own thoughts, feelings, and actions and can be a key ingredient to successfully transitioning into Kindergarten. So, in our music classes when we play a “Stop & Go” game, participate in circle dances, transition from one activity to another, and even share instruments, children learn and practice self-regulation skills. Those same skills will help children pay attention in school and act and behave appropriately, even among the many distractions found in a typical classroom setting.
4. Music leads children to experience patterns through movement, listening, and playing instruments. Rhythm patterns are combinations of long and short sounds and silences. In our preschool or toddler curriculum, educators may lead the class to “step, step, step, stop” or “ta, ta, ta, rest” with rhythm sticks. This helps children learn rhythm patterns (quarter note, quarter note, quarter note, rest), a basic musical concept. Plus, whole body involvement with patterning not only lays an early foundation for reading music but also for math and literacy.
5. Through vocal play, children learn to form vowels and consonants, say words and phrases, and imitate rhythm and vocal inflection. Our music classes and daycare curriculum provide many vocal play opportunities through songs, chants, and carefully-crafted activities, such as mimicking the high sounds of birds or the low sounds of frogs. Vocal play using glissando also encourages the expressive qualities of children’s speaking and singing voice as well as vocal range.

To learn more about enrolling in a Kindermusik class, contact a local educator via our Class Locator.

Schools, preschools, and childcare centers can learn more about using our daycare curriculum, ABC Music & Me, by emailing us at info@abcmusicandme.com

Introducing: Baby Music Classes: For Newborns, Infants & Babies

Boosts baby’s brain and your bond!

In Kindermusik baby music classes, we have unique learning experiences that can be adapted for any age. So whether your baby is a just a few weeks old, a few months, or 1 and 2 years of age, they'll love the together time with thier parent, grandparent, or caregiver.

Music is one of your baby’s favorite things – AND it’s one of the best things for your baby’s developing mind. Babies’ brains are filled with billions of neurons just waiting to be connected through sensory stimulation. That’s what we do when we’re in Kindermusik:  we offer a sensory rich environment, complete with music, movement and fun, to create and strengthen baby’s neural pathways. Each Kindermusik class touches on every learning domain, creates special bonding moments, and begins to instill a lifelong love of music.

Kindermusik Baby Music Classes

Young children newborn to age 2 are primarily in a receptive mode of learning.  With you there to nurture and engage your child, a Kindermusik babies music class gives your little one the perfect head start, musically and developmentally.

• Language Development – You’ll hear lots of sweet coo’s and goo’s before your baby’s first words, and Kindermusik activities will help you develop your baby’s language skills through vocalization in response to music, hearing his name in songs, and exploring sounds with his own voice.
   
• Vocal Development – Being immersed in a bath of musical sound becomes the precursor to actual singing.  Vocal play activities inspire your little one to begin to coo, babble, and hum – the beginning stages of learning to use the voice.

• Cognitive Development – Little minds present a big window of opportunity, a window that’s actually only open for so long.  Simple musical play activities increase your baby’s brain development by locating sounds though instrument and object play and feeling a steady beat.
   
• Gross Motor Skills – One thing will naturally lead to the next as you expand your baby’s movement repertoire through activities that support rolling, crawling, and kicking during music, as well as sitting and standing independently, and later learning to walk, march, and dance.
   
• Fine Motor Skills – From discovering her hands to learning what her hands can do, your baby will thrive on playful activities with you that give her practice in visually tracking objects and teach her how to reach, grasp, and release those objects as well as to transfer them from hand-to-hand.
   
• Social Emotional Development – At a time when your child is becoming attached to you and just beginning to make her first connections with other people, Kindermusik helps you strengthen the precious bond with your child through cuddling, playing, humming, and dancing and also heighten the benefits of social interaction with others through side-by-side play and group dances.

• Musical Development – Whether you are bouncing your child to the steady beat or she is doing a fledgling “bouncy” dance on her own, your baby is primed and ready to benefit from an early introduction to music through exploring instruments, listening to sounds, and moving to music.

Psychology Today: Born With a Preference for Two Languages

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Kindermusik International

Researchers have known for years that babies have a preference for the sound of their mother’s voice. A preference they show by turning their head towards the sound of their mother, and increase suckling.
Recently researchers asked if a baby born to a bilingual mother would have a preference for one language over the other. If a child’s mother is bilingual, which language would the baby prefer? The mother’s first language, or the second?
The answer is both — and then some.
In the study, (published June 6, 2012 by Francois Grosjean, Ph.D. in Life as a Bilingual), researchers studied children born to bilingual mothers — who spoke English and Tagalog — and children born to monolingual mothers.
When the babies were exposed the sounds of language, researchers watched the baby’s suckling behavior: an increase in suckling showed a baby’s increased interest in a language.
In the study, babies born to bilingual mothers showed interest in both of the mother’s languages — English and Tagalog. Babies born to monolingual mothers showed an interest only in their mother’s first language.

Tuned in to a new language

In the same study, researchers introduced a third language, Chinese, which is similar to Tagalog, and the babies born to bilingual mothers also responded with suckling to the sound of the new language. Babies born to a monolingual mother seemed to show no additional interest.

“The authors concluded that the acquired interest in the two languages these infants had been exposed to could help them pay attention to the languages and hence acquire them in their first years of life ….. IF they were raised in a bilingual environment, of course.”

Kindermusik@Home

Clever Cows

Create a bilingual environment and nurture early language learning with ABC English & Me. Try this activity:
No matter how you say it — love, giliw, or 爱 — your child loves the sound of your voice. The ability to hear and distinguish between sounds in English or any other language is called phonemic awareness, and is a skill critical to school success and learning to read. And because nursery rhymes are often silly and fun to say, they are particularly developmentally appropriate for very young English learners!
By watching and listening to (over and over again) this Clever Cows video, and learning this simple nursery rhyme, your child is developing his or her rhyming, word segmentation, and sound discrimination skills; enriching her growing English vocabulary; and being introduced to basic story structures such as beginning and end, problem and solution, and cause and effect. Don’t forget to count the cows when you are done: 1, 2, 3, 4!

See more music and movement activities featuring the Clever Cows, music, and second language learning at my.kindermusik.com

From a former Kindermusik kid

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Kindermusik International

The below paper was written by a junior high school student who has attended Kindermusik class at Kindermusik by Music Connections Foundation in Bloomington, IL. Thank you to Jonah for his thoughtful & insightful work, showcasing the benefits of the Kindermusik program and to Katie Henderson, Founder/Director of the Kindermusik by Music Connections Foundation for sharing this with us.

By: Jonah K., former Kindermusik Kid
If you went into this place, you would hear children laughing. If you looked inside, you would see happy parents, playing kids, a kind, happy atmosphere, and catchy, cool music playing. When it’s time to leave, all the kids have had SO much fun, and they can’t wait to come back again! Is this an amusement park? Guess again! This is just one of the many music classes presented by the amazing charity of Music Connections Foundation right here in Bloomington-Normal.
You may think, “Music? Ha! Music isn’t important! It has no effect on life!” But that’s very far from the truth. As experts like Jim Powell, Ed.D, say, “good music (is) invaluable as a teaching tool.” Music education helps cognitive (memory,) social, physical, emotional, language (lingual,) and (of course) musical development in young children. It also can help kids’ self-esteem. Studies show that music enhances the learning process in young minds. Not only does MCF help with learning through music, MCF can help get a child ready for life ahead, and give them a head start in school!
Kindermusik, the program MCF offers, was brought into the U.S.A. in 1978. Kindermusik’s mission is to instill a lifelong love of music and a foundation for learning in children. Kindermusik has been well researched, developed, and proven by many experts, to make sure children can have the best learning experience! It has expanded to 72 countries, from Argentina to Vietnam. In 2002, employees bought the company from investors. This means there is no one in the way to help get music into children. From 2008 to the present time, Kindermusik has been getting greener and greener from going digital to using less paper.
MCF includes many ways to get kids immersed in music and dancing. After all, experts like Anne Green Gilbert tell, “Movement is the key to learning.” When MCF includes music with running and bouncing and jumping, it’s fun for all! Here are the programs that MCF provides: “Village”, ages from 0-1 ½, “Our Time”, ages 1 ½ to 3 ½, “Imagine That!”, from 3 ½ to 5, and “Young Child”, ages 5-7, or Kindergarten to 2nd grade. They also have a family-oriented class called “Wiggle and Grow- Family Style”, which ranges in age from 6 months to 6 years. They also have summer camps, ages Birth-10, from piano to music with cooking. To reach out to the community, MCF also does a Village with Seniors class, allowing mother, child, and “grandmother/father” to bond and care for each other, “Ninos y Musica”, a bilingual version of Kindermusik, and classes for special needs children and their families.
Though many of these classes have a price to be able to be in them, much of this money is put towards materials, extra donations (scholarships,) and to pay the kind teachers who work hard and long to even get the ability to teach the children (not to mention the classes they come up with!) Even if you can’t make that price up, that doesn’t mean you can’t have Kindermusik! There are scholarships for people with low income and people with disabilities.
Grants and donations will help MCF’s efforts to make sure children can come to learn and experience music. MCF has many plans and ideas to help get children into music and learning, but the financial part of these plans may be just out of reach. If you help and donate to MCF, they can help spread music to children in the county, in the state, and, through Kindermusik, all around the world. Imagine what life would be like if everyone could be immersed in learning. If you help MCF, this could come true. So many lives we could all change with the wonderful power of music. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing to see?

FOL Fridays: Benefits of Reading Aloud

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Jamie Sterling

Reading to a child on a regular basis benefits him in several key ways. Reading increases his knowledge of the world, his vocabulary, his familiarity with the written language, and his interest in becoming literate. In fact, the larger the variety of fluent readers a child hears, the better.
Ideas for parents: Even if other special adults in your child’s life do not live nearby, it’s still possible for your child to hear them reading aloud. Hallmark has recordable books. Skype offers free video calls. And MailVU makes it possible to record and send a video email. The possibilities are endless!
- Contributed by Theresa Case, whose Greenville, SC program, Kindermusik at Piano Central Studios, is proudly among the top 1% of Kindermusik programs worldwide.